One Possible Hierarchy
by Kerry Galloway
For the serious student of bass, it helps to have an
organised framework of
ideas to work from. I would like to propose a system,
while keeping in mind
that this is only one potential way of organizing this
information. I credit
Dave Liebman, saxophonist with Miles Davis and
master Jazz educator, with
having inspired this system.
The Modified Liebman Hierarchy
Stand in a concert hall. There are two thousand people
in the hushed
darkness. There is a reverberant stillness. You are
standing in the
spotlight holding the most beautiful fretless bass
you’ve ever seen. It’s
alive under your fingers. You are about to launch into a
gorgeous melody.
You play the first beautiful sustained whole note, with a
warm, smooth
growl...
Hold that picture...feel that moment...
You’ve just made music. You have only played one
note, so the time element
has not yet come into play (it takes differentiated
sounds to create
rhythm). And the element of note choice has not yet
arisen, because the
audience has no idea what harmony is going on in your
head. Perhaps it’s the
3rd of a major triad, or the flat nine of a 7 flat nine chord.
It doesn’t
matter. Even the element of dynamics is irrelevant:
certainly the volume and
intensity at which you play the note is relevant, but only
in as much as it
affects your tone; with no other note volumes to
compare with, the concept
of dynamics is meaningless. For an instant, you are
considering the purest
application of tone.
So at the top of our hierarchy is Tone. We’ll be
discussing methods of
working on tone in upcoming articles.
Now, you’ve held the suspense for as long as you
can...the audience is in
the palm of your hand. You begin a fast, intricate
16th-note ostinato on
your starting note, the same note you were just
sustaining. You accent some
of the notes, hit some of them hard and hold a few of
the hard hit notes a
bit longer. You are exploring the world of TIME.
Time breaks into two components: a measurable,
objective one and an
emotional, subjective one. I call these two elements
metronomic time and
feel, which also includes groove.
Now, the element of metronomic time is measurable:
Are you speeding up or
slowing down? One instrument that measures this is a
metronome (drum
machines and sequencers also work well). Strong
metronomic time,
internalised, keeps you from rushing or slowing
down.
Groove is a more subtle concept and involves the
emotional element of music..
That's why it comes under the heading of "feel".
Bassists must concern
themselves with two parts of this very important
element: playing behind,
ahead of, or on the beat, and using patterns of accents
and dynamics which
enhance the "feeling" of a particular groove. For a
bassist, the study of
time and groove is critical, and if you don't own a
metronome or drum
machine at this moment, you should get one NOW.
Remember, we aren't saying "these elements are the
most important"...
We are saying "look how much music you can make
BEFORE worrying about note
choice...". We are talking about an exquisite
microcosm that can be explored.
Excerpted from "The Eclectric Bass" by Kerry
Galloway
